Where - _Wererat_
(Eibon Records, 2007)
by: Quentin Kalis (7 out of 10)
I'm not too sure what the title means; the idea of men turning into rodents by the light of the full moon has more than a ring of silliness. In case I misinterpreted the title, the silly murine monster on the cover erases any doubts. It remains a mystery why so many albums that are otherwise acceptable, if not gobsmackingly brilliant, possess more cheese than Parmalat.

The saving grace may be that I'm not entirely convinced that Zairo (Where's sole member) is taking the entire notion too seriously, and is instead indulging in a bit of a pisstake. There is some merit in the subterranean premise, that what we dismiss as mere vermin are a lot hardier than we think and may (at least metaphorically) come back to bite us on the ass.

Moving on to the music (allegedly recorded solely in rat-infested places and Piombino sewers), Where starts off with some ambient drones before moving onto sample laden ambience of trickling water and steel rolls. If the purpose is to transport us into a murky sewer, he has succeeded. Some hideous sounds (distorted rat squeals) herald the entry of the third track --actually that's it, all fifteen seconds, and it adds little to the album's atmosphere. The remaining two tracks follow a similar pattern to the first two, and barring the annoying interlude, actually constitute a more than adequate entry into the drone-laden field. It's just that the theme tends to detract from rather than enhance or amplify the music contained within.

Contact: http://www.eibonrecords.com

(article published 4/7/2007)


RSS Feed RSS   Facebook Facebook   Twitter Twitter  ::  Mobile : Text  ::  HTML : CSS  ::  Sitemap

All contents copyright 1995-2024 their individual creators.  All rights reserved.  Do not reproduce without permission.

All opinions expressed in Chronicles of Chaos are opinions held at the time of writing by the individuals expressing them.
They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone else, past or present.